In construction, there is a need to tether construction workers to the structure being constructed, so that if the worker falls, the fall is shortened so that the worker is not injured or killed. Typically, the worker wears a harness, and the harness is removably connected or attached to a lanyard. A lanyard is a flexible tensile member such as a rope, cable, or web that has attachment hardware, typically a carabiner, at each end. Typically, at one end of the lanyard, the lanyard is coupled to an “anchor point” on the structure, and at the other end of the lanyard, the lanyard is coupled to the harness.
The lanyard, specifically the carabiner at the end thereof, is coupled to the harness through another article of attachment hardware known as a “D-ring.” A typical D-ring 2 is shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 shows a lanyard 4 attached to the D-ring 2 via a carabiner 6.
Referring to FIG. 1, the D-ring 2 generally has two closed apertures A1 and A2. The larger aperture A1 is for receiving the carabiner. The smaller aperture A2 is for attaching to a structure. For example, FIG. 3 shows the D-ring 2 attached to a harness 8 formed of webbing 7. A loop of the webbing extends through the aperture A2, to connect the D-ring to the harness.
The D-ring 2 is an example of what may generally be referred to in the art, and what is specifically referred to herein, as a “D-ring attachment point.” Another example of a D-ring attachment point is the swivel D-ring attachment point described in the inventors' patent application Ser. No. 12/807,290, Pub. No. US 2010/0326767, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. FIGS. 4 and 5 show this attachment point (referenced as 5) attached to the webbing 7 of the harness 8 (not shown). The attachment point 5 has two ring-like portions that are permitted to swivel relative to one another about a longitudinal axis “L.” The larger of these ring-like portions is referred to as a “caribiner-attachment” (“CA”) portion and is adapted for receiving the caribiner, and the other is referred to as a “structure-attachment” (“SA”) portion and is adapted for attaching, e.g., to the webbing 7 as shown.
The present invention provides for yet another article of attachment hardware, for attaching D-ring attachment points to the webbing 7 of a harness 8.